I wanted a winch, but could not justify the price of a Warn with how little I actually get off road. I went back and forth for a while between the Engo and Quadratec branded winches. After reading posts here and on other forums I decided to pull the trigger on a Quadratec Q9000s, the version with the external solenoid box and synthetic cable. Shipping was quick and I received it in less than a week from the time I ordered it.

After I installed the winch and connected it to the battery I tried to do a functions check. I plugged in the remote and rotated the drum outwards a couple of turns. Everything looked, felt, and sounded fine. Time to spool it back in a few feet. NOTHING. Not a single noise, click, tick or anything. After following the troubleshooting tips in the instructions for a drum that only spools in one direction, which consists of tapping on the solenoids, I ended up with no positive results. One call to Quadratec's customer service and they told me they would have a new solenoid in the mail to me as soon as they got them in stock. Not what I wanted to hear, but I guess that is all they could do.

But that wasn't all. Since I had a few feet of line stuck spooled out, I decided to remove the winch line completely. I was ok with this since I would have to remove the rope to feed back through the fairlead anyways once I got the winch working. Once I pulled the rope out by hand and got to the last rotation I got a another nasty surprise. The screw that connects the rope to the edge of the drum just fell off. The winch line itself was holding the screw in place. The screw was sheared and could not be used even if you tried. My guess is that it was possibly overtightened when they installed it, damaging the threads. Replacing a screw is no big deal, but I worry about the other half of the screw bouncing around inside of the winch. Who knows what other problems that could lead to. Unfortunately, by the time I discovered this, Quadratec's customer service was closed until tomorrow.

I have ordered other brands through Quadratec for years and decided that I would take a chance on their brand winch. I know that they have great customer service and I have no doubt that they will make things right, but this really is an inconvenience that I wasn't expecting. Just wanted to share my story.

Ps. I will go ahead and say it so that this page isn't filled with the same reply over and over. "Should have gotten a Warn." There, I said it for you, so that you don't have to.

 

Bummer. Good luck with the headache

 

I recently bought their Q11000 syn. I know of one member here who received his winch with a bad motor, said they fixed him up quick. If I were you I'd also send a PM do the Qtec rep here via the forum to keep the ball rolling. Rep Rick's helpful

 

Considering the Q9500i myself. Hoping to get a good deal at the Bantam Jeep Festival this year.

Subscribed to hear what happens next.

 

I got the Q9500i. While doing the first cable re-tensioning the line spooled in a couple of feet and stopped. The solenoid clicked and the motor terminals were getting the requisite 12.5 volts but no rotation in either direction.

I called Q-tec and they rushed me a replacement motor and a return label on their tab. Replaced motor and was working within a week of the failure. Have used the winch 3 times since with no problems.

BTW - Quadratec uses the same Chinese motor source that Warn uses on their VR series.







Keep on them. They will make it right.

 

I think you may have been the member I was thinkin of. Good to know about their motor source

 

That is good to know that they took good care of you.

I really have no mechanical understanding of the inside of a wich, but if half of the bolt that holds the rope on fell inside of the drum, could that cause any future problems?

 

I talked to Quadratec this morning. They are making everything right and are sending a replacement winch. Hopefully this one works out.

 

Hey there,

Sorry to hear about the issues with the winch, but I'm happy to hear that the CS team helped resolve this for you

If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to PM me or contact the phones lines direct.

Thanks and have a great day!

-Rick



Thanks much!